Easy giving

Now you know I’m not one for dramatic fund-raising gestures. I’d far rather dump a carrier bag full of clothes to Oxfam and buy another one back than skydive for orang-utans. Unless it’s Race for Life, the less physical activity the better, which is why I am so pleased to support the lovely author Rowan Coleman’s inspired fundraising event for Refuge, the charity that helps and advises survivors of domestic abuse.

A year or so ago Rowan – a mighty-fine novelist whose fiction has hovered up prizes like I hoover up truffles of a Sunday afternoon – began researching a book about domestic violence. To bring some perspective to the shocking statistic that two British women a week are killed by their current or former partner, she asked her Facebook friends to share their stories, if any, of domestic abuse. The next day she opened up her Facebook page to find 204 emails from women with a story to share.

Rowan used those stories to create Rose, the heroine of Dearest Rose, the story of one woman and her eight-year-old daughter’s escape from a domestic nightmare. Now she’s asking our help to raise £10,000 for Refuge, and it doesn’t involve any grief whatsoever. No running, no jumping, no sponsor forms, badgering neighbours to chip in a fiver – nothing like that at all. In fact you can do it all from the comfort of your sofa by simply downloading a copy of her latest book, Woman Walks into a Bar on Kindle, for the princely sum of £1.59 and every penny of the royalties will go to Refuge. We’ve even made it easy for you to find it by clicking here.

The book is launched today, so before you settle down with the cat and a cuppa, help her spread the word on Twitter @rowancoleman using the hashtag #supportafriend.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a book to read. Let’s compare notes in the morning.